Efi Pylarinou

Co-Founder and author

GrowFin Gmbh - Global Tech Influencer Services

B2B content campaign services (Blogs and Video). 
My global audience is close to 200,000 followers on Linkedin and an additional 20,000+ across other platforms.  

Speaking engagements & Education - Domain expertise includes Digital Banking, Capital markets, Wealth and Asset Management, Digital Assets, and innovative ways of using advanced technologies.

Founder of Pylarinou Advisory

Your Global Fintech & Tech Influencer

The Fast Future Executive

A unique way for employees and leaders to understand the Future. Live education about the Technologies & Trends that are shaping all aspects of Society and the Economy.

Faculty

International Financial Services Centres Authority

Member of the Evaluation Committee for Fintech startups for the International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA)

IFSCA is a unified authority for the development and regulation of financial products, financial services, and financial institutions in the International Financial Services Centre in India. GIFT IFSC is the first smart city and the first international financial services centre in India. The main objective of the IFSCA is to develop strong global connections and focus on the needs of the Indian economy as well as to serve as an international financial platform for the entire region and the global economy as a whole. As part of this vision, IFSCA and GIFT City are designing the world's first Global FinTech Hub to be located in GIFT City.
GIFT IFSC aspires to become India’s gateway for inbound and outbound requirements of international financial services.

Member of the Evaluation Committee for Fintech startups for the IFSCA

Fintechrockers com

www.fintechrockers.com
The Fintechrockers Club is "neutral ground", where anyone (private/corporate) can come and discuss ideas even with it's own competitors. The Club is a closed group and can be entered only via a recommendation of a member who's also the bondsman of the prospect.

Member

Daily Fintech Advisers

Co-created Daily Fintech, a multi-author Fintech leading source of insights and trends in Fintech
https://dailyfintech.com/

e-Concordia

Developed the  CFA online courses in FIXED INCOME, DERIVATIVES, ALTERNATIVE INVESTMENTS (level I) for KnowledgeOne

Lecturer

McGill University

Part time Lecturer in Real Estate Finance and Options.

Faculty position

Dalton Investments

Marketing the Dalton Investment hedge funds (Distressed debt, Long/Short Global Equity, Asian Long/Short Equity, Japan Long/Short Equity) for European institutional clients.

Marketing

Cowen and Company (US broker dealer of Societe Generale)

Trading local Latin American fixed income. Created legal setup, performed due diligence and initiated investments in illiquid local instruments (dollar linked).

Vice President

Bankers Trust

Instrumental role in rebuilding the Latin American group that was dismantled after the Mexican crisis of 94. Hiring for the modeling Emerging markets fixed income infrastructure. Coordinating between economics research, trading, structuring, and sales on analytics and marketing.

Seasoned, credible, and independent services for your business.
As a Top Global Fintech & Tech thought leader, continuously recognized in multiple rankings of Who is Who, I offer Content and Influencer services to put your leadership and activities in the spotlight.
I take on advisory roles working closely with the leadership team to help them stay ahead of Fintech trends in combination with their strategic objectives. 
I am also a Speaker and offer Workshops. 

𝐌𝐲 𝐒𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬

My content services enhance your content strategy and include high-quality content - articles, videos, or white papers, shared on all my social networks (close to 250,000 followers). 

My Advisory services help you keep up and stay ahead of Fintech innovations and shape your digital transformation strategy. 
 
1.	Sponsor a series of Articles or Videos.
2.	Hire me as a Speaker. Currently speaking on `Thinking like an AI native Business` or `The Future of Money & Finance`.  
3.	Workshops: On the above topics or the broader topics shaping our future in collaboration with the faculty at the Fast Future Executive program.
4.	Advisory on a retainer basis plus project-based. 

𝐒𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 

Check out my Brochure in the Featured content above. DM me. 

𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐈 𝐚𝐦

I am a seasoned Wall Street professional and ex-academic who has become a 𝐓𝐨𝐩 𝐆𝐥𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐥 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐡 & 𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫.

I am a domain expert with a Ph.D. in Finance, a prolific Content creator, and a Faculty at Fast Future Executive. 

I am trusted by global Brands in Tech and Financial services (see brochure). 

I am a Top LinkedIn voice with 200,000 LinkedIn followers. Also included in:
-	Top 100 Tech Influencers - Awards Magazine
-	Top 20 Swiss Linkedin creators - Favikon (2024)
-	Top 50 Digital Futurists, Top Linkedin & Twitter Voice - Engatica (2022)
-	Top 20 Fintech Influencers & Top 20 in ‘ Who`s Who in AI’ influencers Onalytica (2021)

I am a contributing author in these books
o	2024 Wiley `Fast Future Blur`
o	2021 Springer ` Theories of Change`
o	2019 `4IR, Reinventing a Nation`
o	2018 `WealthTech` Wiley

Follow me on: 
📌 Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/efipylarinou/
📌 YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/EfiPylarinou
📌 Medium: https://efipm.medium.com/
📌 Twitter: https://twitter.com/efipm
📌 Apple Podcasts - https://buff.ly/3oSZ4CA
📌 Spotify - https://buff.ly/3xPyWaV
📌 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/efipm
📌 TikTok - https://tiktok.com/@efiglobal?lang=en
📌 Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.ch/efipm/pins/

We love lists. We are humans. Favikon has taken a different approach in their rankings. They look at social rankings by country and identify the Top 20 in each country. 

In early March, I was delighted to be included in the Top 20 #LinkedIn #Influencers in Switzerland, the top country globally in Innovation rankings! One doesn't get included every day in a list with Mark Schneider, the CEO of Nestlé, Sergio P. Ermotti, CEO of UBS, and Teresa Harris Graham the CEO of Roche. 
The CH Favikon list includes 35% women. The industry diversity is remarkable. 

I am honored to be part of this group and no.1 ranking in Switzerland in #fintech & #Crypto. I hope that soon Fintech and Crypto (better said Digital Assets) will be one area (because they are already despite some resisting.)

Honored to be in the same list with: 
Marcus Köhnlein (Chairman Quarero Marketing Accelerator)
Marc Beierschoder (Head AI Deloitte)
Enzo Wälchli (CCO ANYbotics)
Andrew Akbashev (Senior Scientist PSI Paul Scherrer Institut)
Yaël Meier (Co-Founder ZEAM)
Yomi Denzel (Founder Mindeo)
Charles-Henry Monchau, CFA, CMT, CAIA (CIO Syz Group)
Leah Tharin (CPGO GotPhoto.com | fotograf.de )
Cyrille Vigneron (CEO Cartier)
Hanneke Faber (CEO Logitech)
Dr. Martha Boeckenfeld (Top 100 Women of the Future) 
Soren Toft (CEO Mediterranean Shipping Company)
Selma Kuyas (Head of Brand innov8 )
Frank Kumli (Head of Innovation and Entrepreneurship)
Ignacio Ramirez Moreno, CFA (Advisor Pictet Group)
Sara Stella Lattanzio (Senior Marketing Mgr Adnovum)

Favikon recently ranked Greece and my colleague Panagiotis Kriaris (who ranked #3 - put your hands together for a round of applause) suggested including me as he got included despite residing in Austria. 
One doesn't get ranked every day in a list that includes the Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the Google country manager, Peggy Antonakou, and two women ministers (one current and one former) Sofia Zacharaki and Dora Bakoyannis. 

Honored to be in the same list also with: 
Konstantinos Kintzios, MBA, Youth Employability Advocate & Business Show Host
Marily Nika, Ph.D, AI Product Leader
Georgios Stassis, Energy Transition Strategist & CEO
Giannis Tolios, Data Scientist and Author Advocate for Climate Change
European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA)
Nicholas Chryssanthopoulos Senior Partner at EOS Capital Partners
Spyros Andrianos, self-help expert and author
Angelos Charisteas, Former Football player and Youth advocate
George Daskalakis, Co-founder and CEO of Kaizen Gaming
Ani Filipova, Career Change Advisor & Speaker
Myrto Lalacos, Senior Associate at VC Lab
Stella Voulgaraki, Chief People Officer at Kaizen Gaming
Yiorgos Tzirtzilakis, Career & Leadership Coach
Manousos Maropakis, CEO at Brain Up
@Marco Veremis, technology Entrepreneur & Investor

 To my LinkedIn tribe residing in the UK, the US, India, France, Germany with x5, x6 times the population of CH or GR, I acknowledge the advantage of being in a small country.  

Favikon rankings in CH & GR

BREAKING NEWS: The unique feature of the Euro CBDC is the 13th reason it is needed as soon as possible.

Keir Finlow-Bates has published the 12 reasons a EURO CBDC is needed Now. 

Relevant links in the comments.

#money #fintech #CBDC #aprilfoolsprank #efiinsights

Key Insights on Fintech Firms Serving Women Customers based on the findings of the recent IFC - International Finance Corporation and Dalberg survey of 114 fintech firms from 17 countries around the globe to better understand the potential – and shortfalls – of fintech firms to drive financial inclusion for women in emerging markets.

📍Over 50% of the Fintechs report that women make up less than 25% of their customer base, with lower representation among business customers and lending firms. WE NEED TO MOVE WOMEN UP THE FINANCIAL LADDER beyond PAYMENTS.

📍 59% collect sex-disaggregated data (SDD), but few use it strategically. Less than a third tailor products/services for women. FINTECHs USE THE SDD DATA. EXPERIMENT MORE.

📍 Most firms consider women more loyal, less risky, and equally or more valuable customers compared to men. FINTECHs DESIGN REWARDs for LOYALTY.

📍 Firms tailoring for women often see higher customer lifetime value, despite sometimes higher acquisition costs.

📍 Fintech firms need knowledge, research, financial support, and technical assistance to fully capture the women's market.

Countries included are low gender gap countries (e.g. Kenya, Philippines etc) all the way to high gender gap countries (e.g. India, Turkey etc)

While progress has been made, significant gaps remain.

❓In your opinion, what are the most critical areas of support needed to unlock the women's market opportunity for fintechs?

❓What are some ways fintech firms could better leverage data to design tailored offerings that meet women's needs and preferences?

At the same time, let’s applaud some Fintechs that are deliberately focused on increasing women's representation among their customers:

1. JuanchoTePresta, Digital lender in Colombia, provides better credit terms to women, with around 15% lower monthly installment costs compared to men. The company ctively seeks to balance its loan portfolio in favor of women through preferential rates and targeted marketing. Women make up 60% of its existing customer portfolio

2. Asante Financial Services Group (Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria - Africa) has a board mandate to target a 50:50 gender split in customers by 2025. The company leverages data showing women have 2% lower default rates and higher customer lifetime value. It is piloting bundling financial services like free health insurance as incentives for women customers and partners with telecom companies to distribute lending programs targeting women farmers

3. CROWDE is an agriculture and fintech firm in Indonesia that offers non-financial services (like cultivation methods) aimed at building the financial management and technical capabilities of women farmers. The increased awareness and interest generated among women farmers attending these training sessions leads to greater demand for Crowde's financial services to initiate their own cultivation projects.

#fintech #data #gender #efiinsights #women 


Women her Fintech edge

Amsterdam: The Original Financial Capital from the 17th century. 

📍 The Amsterdam Stock Exchange (1602) was the first official stock trading exchange
📍The Dutch East India Company (1602) issued the first publicly traded shares and pioneered the first IPO
📍The Bank of Amsterdam (1609) was one of the earliest predecessors to modern central banks
📍 Financial innovations like maritime insurance, stock trading, and investment funds were invented during the Dutch Golden period. 
📍The Dutch guilder (also known as the florin) was a major reserve currency in the 17th and 18th centuries. It was the predecessor of the reign of the British pound. 

The Tulip Mania market bubble took place between 1634 and 1637 during the Dutch Golden Age.

Top Fintechs out of The Netherlands: Adyen, bunq, Mollie, Bitfury, Ohpen,...

❓What other interesting facts do you know about Amsterdam's financial history? 

❓Did you know that Booking.com is a Dutch company❓

I'd love to hear your thoughts!

#fintech #financialservices #stockmarket #tulipmania #efiinsights

 The BIS Envisions the Future of Finance with "Finternet" 🌐💰

The Bank for International Settlements – BIS Settlements (BIS) has coined an intriguing new term: FINTERNET.

❓Will "Finternet" catch on and revolutionize finance as the Internet did for communication? Time will tell, but the BIS is thinking big about the future of financial markets. 

❓Will flying cars proceed the FINTERNET? Time will tell. 

When was the last time the BIS coined a visionary new term? 
I think this is the first time. 

ChatGPT says the most recent time was post-GFC when the BIS came up with `Basel III`. But those are regulatory terms and 100% in their line of business. 

#BIS #Finternet #FutureOfFinance #efinsights #Tokenization

The CDBC discussion is an important one because it will shape the future of finance, economies, and geopolitics.
Listen to the conversation with second-time guest Richard Turrin on recent developments such as Swift`s announcement of an Interoperability Platform, China's digital yuan international trials, and India`s plans.

00:00 The Evolution of Money: Exploring CBDCs
01:25 Richard Turin on CBDC Developments
03:50 The SWIFT System and CBDC Integration
04:33 The CBDC debate: Privacy, Surveillance, and Polarization
15:39 The Petro Yuan: China's Digital Currency in International Trade
25:43 Digital Public Infrastructure: India's Leap in Payment Systems
31:17 The Future of Wallets and Digital Payments
36:42 Closing Thoughts and Digital Identity
 
👉 The Full video link is in the comments

This is an ongoing discussion. I aim is to bring together different points of view from around the world. 

👉 Check out the CBDC & Stablecoin playlist (link in comments) which includes 12 videos with guests: 
Patrick Schueffel 
Dea Markova 
Carmelle Cadet 
Oriol Caudevilla 
Aaron Stanley 
Dimitrios Psarrakis 
Dr. Jonas Gross

#CBDC #geopolitics #fintech #efiinsights #China 

Blackrock continues its foray into the Blockchain-powered space. Over the past 2 years, Larry Fink has been saying that the future of markets is Tokenization. He is steadily walking the Talk. After launching a Spot Bitcoin ETF, $IBIT, Böackrock has now issued its first Money Market fund natively on the Ethereum Blockchain. 

In this video I explain how the BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL) functions, and how it compares to the other two top tokenized Money market funds, Franklin OnChain U.S. Government Money Fund $FOBXX, and the Ondo Finance Short-Term US Government Bond Fund $OUSG. 
I highlight the misunderstandings about Tokenization. Is it magically democratizing access, disintermediating Capital Markets, and eliminating Fragmentation?

Enjoy the 15 min Fintech Insights on BUIDL and the issues it brings up. 

00:00 Exploring the Billion-Dollar Tokenization Wave
00:45 BlackRock's Bold Move into Tokenized Money Markets
02:09 Ondo Finance's Strategic Shift to BUIDL
04:42 Comparing BUIDL with Franklin Templeton's Tokenized Fund
06:35 The Fragmentation and Challenges of Tokenization
08:19 Potential Use Cases and the Reality Around Liquidity
11:27 Myth Busting: Tokenization's Impact on Fragmentation, Access, and Disintermediation
14:54 Conclusion: The Complex Landscape of Tokenized Finance

You can also watch the 1.5yrs extremely popular #youtubeshort with the FINK on Tokenization (link in the comments - it is the 2nd most popular of my shorts after the one with Elon of course). 

#Blackrock #BUIDL #tokenization #efiinsights #investing

youtube.com

The Blackrock BUIDL Token | Demystifying Tokenization Myths | Efi Pylarinou

Happy Easter to those who celebrate.

In the week leading up to Easter, the Reformierte Kirche church in Zürich fills several fountains full of roses. This is a recent tradition that started during COVID19.

Their motto is “Ohne Dornen kein Rosen”, that is “without thorns, no roses,” giving hope in a world full of difficult times.

My Insta360 video is from the largest fountain in the square in front of the Fraumünster cathedral, today (a bit cloudy).

Hope never dies. 

I contracted the Insta360 bug from Nasir Zubairi at the Fintech Summit in Cyprus. 

A Special Invite to The Fast Future Blur Summit 2024 in June in California! A unique gathering of 12 Thought Leaders in the 12 curated areas shaping our future.

The The Fast Future Executive faculty in partnership with Executive Next Practices Institute (ENP Forums) and its CEO Scott Hamilton, are delighted to invite you to this one-of-its-kind Summit 2024!

Join us on June 11th, 2024, 12:30 PM to 06:00 PM, UCI Beall Applied Innovation, The Cove, Irvine, California.

We will discuss the selected 6 Blurs shaping our Future detailed in our upcoming Wiley Book.

Register for the Summit in CA today!: https://lnkd.in/gjinkZV2

Join us:
Jessica Groopman and Sangeet Paul Choudary Choudry
Efi Pylarinou and Hari Abburi
Vince Kuraitis and Ramanathan Srikumar (Sri)
Ravin Jesuthasan, CFA, FRSA and Alun Evans
Rajan Kalia and Cortney Harding
Kristin Slanina and Dr. Martha Boeckenfeld

Plus an additional Six industry experts and Ian O. Williamson Willamson, Dean Of University of California, Irvine - The Paul Merage School of Business.

#innovation #digitaltransformation #executiveeducation #efiinsights 

Is Meta's LLaMA Really Open Source AI? What is 𝐎𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐞 𝐀𝐈 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐈 𝐞𝐫𝐚 and the OpenAI era . 🦙🤔
 
Mark Zuckerberg recently made headlines by releasing Meta's LLaMA language model and marketing it as "open source". But does it truly meet the definition of Open Source AI? Let's take a closer look.
 
According to the Open Source Initiative (OSI) AI Definition, an Open Source AI system must grant users the freedom to:
📍 Use the system for any purpose without permission
📍 Study how it works and inspect components
📍 Modify the system, including changing outputs
📍 Share the system with or without modifications
 
Let's be the devil and look into the details with #LLaMA.
 
While Meta has released the model weights and code, the restrictive licensing terms limit commercial use and hosting. This fails a key test of open source - the ability to use and share the system for any purpose.
 
In reality, LLaMA seems more like "𝐎𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐖𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠" - a misleading marketing tactic to capitalize on the positive halo of open source without embodying its principles. It's a cynical attempt by Meta to garner goodwill while still maintaining control.
 
As AI systems become more powerful and consequential in our lives, it's crucial that we critically examine claims of "Open Source" and hold companies accountable to the ethos of transparency and user freedoms.
 
𝑰'𝒅 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒚𝒐𝒖:
❓ Do you think Meta's release of LLaMA qualifies as truly open source AI? Why or why not?
❓ How important is it for powerful AI systems to be open source? What are the risks and benefits?
❓ Have you seen other examples of "Open Washing" in the AI industry?
 
𝑫𝒓𝒐𝒑 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒘! Let's discuss the importance of true open source in AI,  𝐁𝐄𝐘𝐎𝐍𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐄𝐒 🗣️

I`d like to thank Matthew Wilson `s Quote repost
on my tweet with the Zuck video, led me to look into the acronym FLOSS - “Free Libre Open Source Software”  and the evolving definition of 𝐎𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐞 𝐀𝐈 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐈 𝐞𝐫𝐚.

#OpenAI #AI #opensource #efiinsights

Here are the Top 6 Tweets by your engagement from this past week! As the LinkedIn algorithm doesn't favor dozens of posts a day, Tweets are the way to share dazzling news and insights on Fintech & Tech. 

This past week, your top engagement (beyond the Linkedin content i have already shared with you) was on these topics:  - BNPL
- Embedded finance
- AML / Fraud
- Decentralized AI
- Super Computers
- WealthTech. 

What had you missed? 

Which one do you think will have a more lasting effect?

#fintech #tech #BNPL #efiinsights #AI

Klarna is this Week`s winner

We are 5 Swiss-based Top LinkedIn voices with diverse backgrounds and focus areas. We Love Sharing and Learning from each other. 

Check out our `recipes`. We are all entrepreneurs, creators, and curiosity practitioners.

Baschi SALE founder of Social Group - socialgroup.ch
Olga Miler co-founder of SmartPurse - Financial Education Platform 
Evelyn Palma co-founder of Blackbird® Talent Solutions
James Eagle founder of  Eeagli
and myself Founder of GrowFin GmbH - Global Tech Influencer Services

Connect with us. Follow us. Join us. 

When we meet in person, the energy skyrockets. We come up with ideas and we execute. Thank you Baschi SALE for this creation.

𝑰'𝒅 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓 from you:

What else would you want to know from us?  

𝑫𝒓𝒐𝒑 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒘!

#innovation #influencer #efiinsights #linkedinTopVoices 

% Top Linkedin Voices Share their approach

BEYOND THE HEADLINES – #JPMorgan is the Godfather of  `Payments are Eating the World` and #Klarna is the Godmother of `BNPL` the most successful embedded finance use case to date.  Banks love fee businesses but very few can count on this type of revenue.
 
📍 By now you have seen the Retail Banking headlines about #Chase selling ad space on its digital properties to advertisers. 
 
Ron Shevlin spells out the important details:
Advertisers will only pay `rent` to Chase when the customer makes a purchase – Pay per acquisition (PPA) advertising.
 
🖍️ The New York Post reports that Chase already ran a pilot campaign with Air Canada, targeting only users whose Chase transaction history suggests they are interested in traveling. The campaign resulted in $6.3M in total sales for Air Canada, with an average order value of $500+, and 80% of transactions were from new customers.

 📍Klarna created a Wikipink page with 2023 statistics from their customers and comparisons to credit card stats from a poll. 
 
We applaud Transparency but we also remain critical about polls and statistics.
 
Klarna commissioned Harris Poll to survey over 2,000 US adults. The results are in favor of BNPL usage versus credit card usage. However, lets us keep in mind that in the US, credit card debt hit a new record high of $1.13 trillion in 2023 and according to the recent #WorldPay payments report the US BNPL transaction volume accounts for only 5%, while credit cards for 33% and digital wallets (also predominantly backed by credit cards) 37%.

Wikipink page highlights:
🖍️Out of Klarna’s various payment options in the US, 90+% are made with interest-free Pay in 4. While 41% of American credit card users are carrying over credit card debt.
🖍️Klarna’s share of Pay in 4 purchases with late fees are declining; at 4.31% in Q3 2023. In comparison,17% say they paid their credit card late and incurred a late fee at least once in the last year (Klarna/Harris Poll survey).

📍 In Fintech land we have been reminded several times that building a Fintech business based on interchange fees, is not a sustainable business model, even though many entrepreneurs maybe salivating to steal a portion of the fees that JP Morgan and the likes command.

🖍️ #Bloomberg reported that JPMorgan took home $31 billion of interchange and merchant-processing income in 2023. Even though the card networks set the interchange fees and are currently in the spotlight, it is the card issuers (e.g.  JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America) that get the lion's share of the revenue. These fees in turn are largely channeled into the reward programs of the card issuers.
   
𝑰'𝒅 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓 from you:

How do you use your Chase card?  

If you are a BNPL user, for what type of spending and why?

𝑫𝒓𝒐𝒑 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒘!

𝑆𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑑𝑒𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑙 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟, 𝑖𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑑𝑜𝑛’𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑛𝑜𝑤.

 
A Futuristic discussion with Dave Wallace on the paradigm shift in personal Finance from Conversational AI. Enjoy the energy build-up during our discussion about how Conversational AI may revolutionize the way we interact with and manage our personal finances.

𝑻𝒂𝒍𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝑴𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒚: 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑹𝒊𝒔𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝑨𝑰 𝒊𝒏 𝑷𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝑭𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆

Full video👉  https://lnkd.in/dx2yZ5sj

𝙄'𝙙 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨:

Are you ready to start "talking to your money" with an AI companion?

How might conversational AI change your approach to personal finance?

Share your views below!

- Podcast links in the comments for those who prefer audio-only. 

#GenAI #AI #fintech #personalfinance #moneymanagement #efiinsights

Talking to Money: The Rise of AI in Personal Finance

Demystifying Digital Assets: U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission CFTC's Taxonomy Offers Long-Awaited Clarity. The long-standing debate in the US around digital asset classification has been a source of confusion and uncertainty. But the CFTC's proposed taxonomy could be a game-changer, offering a comprehensive framework that moves beyond the SEC's piecemeal approach with the Howey test.
 
In my latest article, I delve into the CFTC's proposed taxonomy, exploring its key features, tech-neutrality, and how it compares to the EU's MiCA regulation.
 
Head over to the article and let me know your thoughts!
👉 https://lnkd.in/dAiErtuk
 
𝑰'𝒅 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒚𝒐𝒖:
 
💬 Do you think the CFTC's taxonomy could pave the way for a more harmonized global regulatory approach?
 
💬 Will this help the Tokenization wave of RWAs that incumbents are shyly looking into?
 
Drop your thoughts in the comments below! 👇

#digitalassets #regulation #cryptocurrencies #tokenization #efiinsights

efipm.medium.com • 6 min read

Demystifying Digital Assets: CFTC’s Taxonomy Offers Clear Guidance

To all the Wannabe Super App entrepreneurs: `You need a deep understanding of the nature of the wildly successful WeChat Super app`.  
 
Recent research from the Oxford TMCD | Technology & Management Centre for Development  has uncovered some fascinating insights.  
 
In this week`s blog, I spell out the unique self-reinforcing cycle mechanisms – the X factors – behind this business model that is incredibly difficult for Western contenders to replicate.
 
Read the full story and let me know your thoughts!

𝐁𝐞𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐅𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐗-𝐅𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐖𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐥𝐲 𝐒𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐒𝐮𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐀𝐩𝐩𝐬 👉 https://lnkd.in/drqq99bm
 
𝑰'𝒅 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓 from you:
 
𝑫𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 any Wannabe Western super app can truly recreate the unique WeChat's sustainable innovation model?
 
𝑨𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒌𝒆𝒆𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒏 𝒆𝒚𝒆 on how Elon Musk aims to transform Twitter (X) into an "everything app"? What's your prediction on his chances of success?
 
𝑫𝒓𝒐𝒑 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒘!
 
𝑆𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑑𝑒𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑙 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟, 𝑖𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑑𝑜𝑛’𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑛𝑜𝑤.
 
Follow me on Medium for weekly articles.

#SuperApp #WeChat #fintech #efiinsights #businessmodel 

efipm.medium.com • 5 min read

Beyond Features: The X-Factors of Wildly Successful Super Apps

Money and Geopolitics, Gold and the Fear Gauge. Weekend geopolitical tensions were momentarily reflected in the price of the second-largest Gold token issued by Paxos.
 
CoinDesk headlines read: `Gold-Backed $PAXG Token Spikes to $2.9K Amid Geopolitical Tensions`

The market dislocation didn’t last too long and was only seen in PAXG which traded on Saturday at a premium of over 20% to the price of Gold of $2,342.90 (Friday's New York close).

Tether`s Gold token $XAUT has been leading in market capitalization since 2023. The total Gold-backed token market has been stagnant more or less with a total market capitalization of c. $1 Billion.

In April 2023, I wrote about this market in ` 3 changes in the Gold-Backed Token market & the Texas wild card `.  Nothing much has changed since and I don't expect this market to grow at any impressive rate (link with my views in the comments)

My advice is to set a quarterly reminder and reflect on the following questions (as geopolitical tensions are not going away soon):
📍Do you value sovereignty?
📍Who are the custodians of your assets?
📍Have you taken into account confiscation risks of your commodity and `money` holdings?
📍How portable are your assets? Can they travel across borders?

#gold #geopolitics #money #bitcoin #sovereignty #eifiinsights  

Robinhood’s Identity Crisis: The Trading Platform’s Struggle to Find a Winning Strategy

Robinhood recently hit the media headlines THRICE (none were for the wrong reason 😉). Kudos. 

Gold, Snacks, Travel, To see the King, Gig workers, Retirement, Cards, Rewards ...

Enjoy my weekly article and share your thoughts on Fintech innovation, `Democratization`, and `evolution`. 

Visual created with Microsoft Designer (prompt is disclosed)
-------
Follow me on Medium for weekly articles. 

Subscribe to my Youtube Channel for weekly longs and more frequent Shorts 😉. https://lnkd.in/ezgdyHpH

#investing #trading #wealthTech #fintech #efiinsights


link.medium.com

Robinhood’s Identity Crisis: The Trading Platform’s Struggle to Find a Winning Strategy

Here are the Top 6 Tweets by your engagement from this past week (beyond the LinkedIn content I have shared with you and videos don't work in static mode). Topics were on:
 
- A global Crypto Banking report
- Stripe`s `funding` mega splash
- Indian Fintech, sound boxes and Ads
- Gold bars sold at Costco
- Tokenized Gold and Geopolitics
- 4 Scenarios of our Monetary future

What had you missed?

If you are not aware of the Indian Fintech innovation `Sound Boxes`, check them out. They are an integral part of payments, merchants, and commerce. 

👑 Top Engagement this week was related to AMINA Bank this Swiss crypto licensed bank (ex-SEBA) crowned the World's Best Crypto Bank in the 2024  for several reasons (Crypto Banking Report by Coincub):

----------
As the LinkedIn algorithm doesn't favor dozens of daily posts, Tweets are the way to share dazzling news and insights on Fintech & Tech.

Also, check out in the comments the Top 3 videos (most watched this past week) on my youtube with 
Caroline Hughes Richard Turrin Dharmesh Mistry 

#fintech #India #Gold #banking #crypto 

Top Tweets of the week - Your engagement

BEYOND THE HEADLINES – Zero-commission for most stocks and ETFs is by now normal. Whether the disruptors and their competitors that had to adjust have created valuable businesses is questionable.
End customers have clearly benefited as investing and trading became cheaper and more accessible but at the end of the day, what matters is whether end customers are better off financially. And this is also questionable.

A lot of fuss for nothing? What do you think? (There is another question at the end that is even more interesting)
 
📍 The UK market is crowded and zero-commission trading is no exception (eToro, IG Group, Interactive Brokers,…).
 
Robinhood relaunched in the U.K. in March, in its third attempt to crack the European market.
 
Freetrade is not a Fintech unicorn yet. It is a crowdfunded Fintech which saw its valuation reduced by 65% to £225 million ($280.3 million) from £650 million in 2023.
It makes money from premium subscriptions, FX fees, and uninvested cash. Nothing sexy.
Freetrade still generated a loss of £8.3 million in 2023, considerably down from the £28.8 million loss of 2022.
 
📍The new US Robinhood VISA card made headlines with its juicy cash-back rewards.
 
The fancy accessory is only available to Robinhood Gold members. They will be the only ones eligible to earn 5% cashback for travel bookings through the Robinhood travel portal and 3% cashback on other purchases. In addition, zero FX fees and a capability to add additional authorized users with their own card. There is a waiting list for the card.
 
Is this card marketing to get more Robinhood Gold members (at $5 per month or $50 annually)?

Robinhood losses in 2023 amounted to $541 million nearly 50% down from the 2022 losses of  $1.03 billion.

📍Year to date $HOOD is up nearly 40%, trading at c. $17 as of yesterday`s close. But it remains a busted IPO as it went public at $38 in the end of July of 2021.  
 
𝑰'𝒅 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓 from you:

📍 When do you think crypto trading will be cannibalized and become zero-commission?  

#fintech #stocktrading #wealthTech #investing #efiinsights  

𝑫𝒓𝒐𝒑 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒘!

𝑆𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑑𝑒𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑙 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟, 𝑖𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑑𝑜𝑛’𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑛𝑜𝑤.
 
This is not financial advice.
 
Links to the actual headlines are in the comments.

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